How many times have you noticed a child, surrounded by toys, select a discarded cardboard box to play in? Quite amazing but if you give it some thought you will realize that the child is using the right side of his brain. That's where creativity and imagination lie. It's truly important to encourage this type of play in children. This is how artists and true scientists are born ... by using experimentation and imagination.

Enter the cardboard box. There is probably almost nothing that can't be made from cardboard. If you've been watching the news recently, an ingenious man made a rideable bicycle from cardboard. So, give your little geniuses some cardboard, some boxes and see what happens. Below are a few ideas to get started. And, yes, mom and dad, you can play too!

A wonderful Coffee Shop that Tracy Yau created for her young daughter who has an affection for coffee. Be sure to read her post on her website 45WallDesign . The coffee machine, display cases and cupboard are all made from cardboard. How inventive!

Make a castle from cardboard pieces. You can use cardboard tubes for the turrets or make your own turrets by folding sections of cardboard ... or use tall boxes.

How about a Rocket Ship? In this ebook Simon builds a Rocket Ship from a big cardboard box ... showing exactly how he made it in this adorable book.